The Coot's Toes

I'm sorry this post is so short, but today I've been given a lot of homework, so I don't have a lot of time.

Here's a photo of an American coot.  I just wanted to post it because you can clearly see its very long green toes.  All rails have long toes, but not as thick as the coot's.  The coot's are almost humourously long, somewhat reminiscient of a clown's shoes.  It's one of the features that separates them from ducks, and can help sometimes because often coots look and act duck-like.  Also in the picture, you can clearly see the 'shield' above an un-duck-like beak, another feature that separates them from ducks.

American Coot